Sunday, 2 June 2013

Vegan tempeh and pumpkin lasagna

Before blogging, I had a way of making lasagne that worked really well for me. Since beginning blogging I have had anumberofvegetarianlasagnes that are just brilliant. I love a lasagne that is full of vegetables but not too rich and creamy. But I sometimes miss the meaty lasagnes that my mum made me as a child. This tempeh lasagne with cashew cream sauce from Tofu for Two was all I love in a lasagne today and all I loved in a lasagne as a child. Except there was no meat and no cheese.

The meatiness came from the tempeh crumbles that were then doused in soy sauce and liquid smoke. I don't use tempeh a lot. Sometimes it is brilliant but other times it can be too stodgy and the flavour is all wrong. I was a bit wary of this recipe as a result. Now I am just sorry I waited so long to make it. These tempeh crumbles were so good that I will consider using this part of the recipe as a meat substitute for other dishes.

I made some serendipitous changes to Tofu for Two's recipe. I bought a whole Kent pumpkin recently so I threw in some roasted pumpkin. We also had some fresh basil and not much milk. Hence both my tempeh filling and my cashew cream sauce were much thicker than intended in the original recipe. Next time I would make both a bit less thick.

Tofu for Two uses the European measurement "dl" which I found a bit confusing so I checked out Cindy and Michael's version which had measurements from my own patch.

The other element which really added to the meal was Sylvia. Unfortunately the dish took quite some time to prepare so she at her dinner earlier. By the time dinner was ready there wasn't time to eat before she went to bed. Hence I left the lasagne to sit for an hour after taking it out of the oven. I am sure it helped, especially with the cheeze sauce topping which changed from a-bit-too-crispy-and-dried to being soft-and-a-little-chewy.

I waited till E had taken a few bites to check what he thought. Brilliant. He said his dad would love it. When I told him it was vegan, he didn't flinch. He likes a vegan lasagne as much as I do. I confess I love grated cheese on my lasagne. This one was so good that I didn't miss the grated cheese at all. It was so tasty, hearty, meaty, creamy that I was totally satisfied. Definitely a keeper.

To make tempeh filling (tomato sauce):
Pat as much moisture out of tempeh with a paper towel and crumble tempeh into small pieces. Heat 1 to 2 tbsp of oil on a heavy-based non-stick frypan and fry tempeh pieces until dry, separated and golden brown (about 10 to 15 minutes). Stir in the soy sauce and liquid smoke. Mine soaked up straight away but Tofu for Two says it takes a few minutes. Set tempeh crumbles aside in bowl.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in the frypan used for the tempeh. Fry onion for about 10 minutes or until well cooked. Stir through garlic. Add passata, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer a few minutes. Add pumpkin and tempeh. Mine really thickened when I added these. Next time I might add a bit of water at this point to make the sauce thicker. Scatter with basil. Set sauce aside.

To make cashew cream sauce:
Blend cashews and 100ml soy milk. Meanwhile melt margarine in a medium saucepan. Stir in wholemeal flour and stir over heat for a few minutes until it browns slightly. Stir in remaining ingredients until thickened.

To assemble lasagne:
Spread a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of a rectangular lasagne dish. Lay first layer of lasagne sheets on top. Spread with one quarter of tomato sauce. Layer with lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and cream sauce, then lasagne sheets, tomato sauce, chopped spinach, then lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and cream sauce, then lasagne sheets and cream sauce. (I was miserly with the cream sauce in the layers with the tomato sauce and generous with the cream sauce on the top.) Bake until the lasagne sheets feel soft and cooked when a knife is stuck into the lasagne. It took me 1 hour at 220 C.

Thanks Lorraine - I would highly recommend trying this one if you wanted to try tempeh - sometimes it can be mushy and horrid but it works brilliantly here - I am always excited to come across a good tempeh recipe as it is such a hit and miss ingredient

I adore this recipe! It restored my faith in veg lasagnes and also provided me with a way to enjoy tempeh so I haven't bothered with other lasagne recipes since trying this. I haven't made it with pumpkin as we aren't huge pumpkin fans but I usually add some diced veg (carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant) into the tempeh sauce.

Thanks Hannah - the tempeh crumbles are so good - I tried a tempeh crumbles gravy (from vegan with a vengeance) once and wasn't so impressed but I think I would like to try again in case I just didn't cook the tempeh enough back then

I absolutely LOVE this and as my parents are vegetarian, I MUST make this for them; it looks packed full of flavour and with that all enticing ingredient, NUTS! Thanks so much for entering this amazing pasta dish into Pasta Please, it's a lovely recipe and blog post! Karen

You know, I have never made lasagna. I'm not quite sure how that's possible, but it's true! My Mum had a great vegetarian one I enjoyed growing up, that wasn't too cheesey, but somehow I've never felt the need to experiment myself. You might have sparked some motivation to do so though.

I'll have to try this - have struggled to find a good dairy free lasagne (veggie or meat!) and this looks like it might tick the right boxes. I'm hosting Pasta Please for July, and it's another vegan friendly theme - Cheeseless Wonders! Hope you can find time to join in :-)

Jackie, sometimes when I make my own pumpkin puree I find I can press it down and drain off some of the water. You could also add a little less passata and then add more if you need it or boil down the passata to be a bit thicker than mine. Generally I think that it is better to have a little more water in a lasagna than to have it too dry so I am sure it will be fine. Hope you enjoy it, it is a great lasagne

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Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.